Marble is popular for its unique texture and noble texture. Marble tiles simulate the beauty of natural stone through glazing technology. How to use advanced glazing technology to accurately reproduce the texture and texture of marble has become the key to improving product competitiveness. From core technology to detail processing, the innovation of glazing technology in materials, equipment and design jointly creates a realistic marble tiles effect.
Inkjet printing technology is the basic technology for marble tiles texture presentation. Traditional screen printing is difficult to accurately replicate the complex texture direction and gradient color of marble, while digital inkjet printing technology can print glaze on the surface of tiles in the form of micron-level droplets with the help of high-precision nozzles. The resolution of the nozzle has been increased from the early 360dpi to more than 1200dpi today. With the multi-color ink system (such as 8 colors and 12 colors), it can delicately present the stone veins, color spot transitions and yin and yang changes in the marble texture. At the same time, the natural marble texture is digitized through software algorithms to generate randomized and diversified texture data, avoiding repeated patterns when paving tiles and improving the simulation effect.
The sunken glaze process gives marble tiles a three-dimensional texture. Natural marble has different depths of texture gullies on the surface. The sunken glaze process prints a glaze with corrosive or shrinking effects on the surface of the tile before inkjet printing, so that the area will be sunken when fired at high temperature, simulating the natural texture of the stone. Then, conventional inkjet and glaze are used to cover the surface to form a three-dimensional texture with different heights. This process not only enhances the visual layering, but also brings a real bumpy touch when touched. Especially for marble varieties with obvious texture contrast such as Carrara White and Jazz White, the sunken glaze can accurately restore the three-dimensional form of its stone pattern.
Mold forming technology further enhances the texture restoration of marble tiles. The surface microstructure data of natural marble is obtained through high-precision 3D scanning, and then a mold with the same texture undulation is produced using CNC engraving technology. During the tile pressing process, the mold will imprint the texture onto the surface of the blank, so that the surface of the tile forms the same ups and downs, granularity and gloss changes as natural stone. The combination of different molds can achieve the differentiation of the surface texture of the same batch of tiles, making the products closer to the random characteristics of natural stone. For example, imitation sandstone marble tiles can perfectly reproduce the rough granular texture of the stone surface through mold molding.
The innovation of glaze formula is a key factor in improving the realism of texture. Traditional glazes have limitations in color expression and firing stability. New glazes achieve breakthroughs by adding special colorants and functional additives. For example, the use of nano-level metal oxide colorants can improve the saturation and transparency of glaze colors, and accurately restore rare colors such as gold and green in marble; adding light scattering agents to glazes can simulate the diffuse reflection effect of natural stone, making the tiles softer and more natural. In addition, the development of high-temperature stable glazes solves the problem of color deviation of complex textures during high-temperature firing, ensuring the accurate presentation of texture details.
The superposition of multiple glaze processes achieves a more advanced simulation effect. It is often difficult to completely replicate the complex features of natural marble with a single process. Modern marble tiles often use a combination of multiple processes such as "inkjet printing + sunken glaze + mold + polished glaze". For example, the texture pattern is first presented by inkjet printing, and then the sunken glaze is used to shape the three-dimensional texture. Then the micro texture is imprinted with a mold, and finally the surface gloss is adjusted by the polishing process. This composite process can fully simulate the texture, texture and gloss changes of natural stone, making the tiles infinitely close to real marble in terms of vision and touch.
The quality control and inspection system ensures the stable output of the glaze process. During the production process, the online visual inspection system is used to monitor the pattern accuracy of inkjet printing, the uniformity of glaze thickness and other indicators in real time. Once a deviation is found, the equipment parameters are adjusted immediately. The fired finished product needs to be tested by professional equipment such as gloss meter, colorimeter, hardness tester, etc. to ensure that the texture color reproduction, surface hardness, wear resistance, etc. meet the standards. At the same time, a natural marble sample database is established to compare the produced tiles with the standard samples in multiple dimensions, continuously optimize the process parameters, and ensure the stability and high simulation of product quality.
With the continuous advancement of technology, there is still room for innovation in the glaze process of marble tiles. In the future, AI technology may be applied to texture design, and through deep learning of the texture patterns of natural marble, more natural and artistic patterns can be generated; new smart glazes may be able to achieve self-repair and self-cleaning functions, which will enhance the texture and make the product more practical. These innovations will push marble tiles to new heights in simulation and functionality, and meet the market demand for high-quality decorative materials.
